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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Perspective

In the wee hours of the morning, I awoke to hear our Great Dane barking. Considering the fact that she never barks at night, fear clenched my heart, and I immediately thought somebody was in our house.

I cautiously entered the living room, and could see flashing lights out the window. I stared at the police car, wondering why it was blocking the street, and then my eyes were drawn to another sight. I could hear Grant's "Oh my God" from the bedroom as I tried to register what I was seeing: a neighbor's house, engulfed in flames.

Just 1/4 of a mile away from a fire station, their home caught fire in the silence of the night. We watched as the fire trucks arrived and the firefighters sprang into action. We prayed that they had made it out safely. Grant accessed the scanner app on his phone, and confirmed that they were okay.

The commotion soon woke Dylan, who joined us at the window. We watched in horror as the fire grew, and I was overcome with heartache for the older couple that lived there. We watched until they got the fire under control, and watched the fire turn to smoke. At that point, we headed back to bed.

I laid down, with tears streaming down my cheeks, and held a worried Dylan against my side. At that moment, I realized just how fortunate we were. As I laid in bed, surrounded by the loves of my life, in my safe home, this couple was watching their home burn with all their belongings inside.

Suddenly, I realized just how trivial it was for me to complain about feeling miserable. The discomfort from many contractions, sleepless nights, and nausea from morning sickness aren't going to subside until I deliver, but I'm about to experience ultimate joy, while this couple was experiencing one of their worst nightmares. I clutched my belly and counted my many blessings until the sun rose.

As I walked out of my OB appointment today, I was able to hold onto that perspective. I am proof that one can walk around dilated from 26 weeks on, have preterm labor, and experience contractions from the first trimester on, but still carry a baby to term.

I was slightly disappointed to hear that a little bit of pitocin could put me into full-blown labor, but that the doctor felt uncomfortable doing so. He wants the baby to come on it's own for 3 big reasons: My total weight gain is very slight (still under 10 lbs and not up to my pre-pregnancy weight), I'm measuring 2 weeks behind, and the baby appears to be small.

While I believe that Nugget is going to be much bigger than they think, there's a reason that he/she hasn't been born yet despite all the contractions and progression. Nugget's just not ready to enter the world. The time will come soon enough!

So for now, I embrace the last moments of pregnancy, and am thankful for the fact that my precious baby is safe inside of me.

19 comments:

This post gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. I will be thinking about and praying for the family who lost their home. I will also be thinking about you! I am sure you are so anxious to meet this precious little life!!!

Oh my god. That is just horrible. Your poor neighbors! Anytime I hear about something REALLY bad, I feel so guilty for all the trivial things I complain about. Thanks for putting it into perspective for me too.

Continuing to think about you and Nugget :) Almost there, almost there!

Girl, I feel for you. These last few weeks of pregnancy are HARD, especially when you are used to going early. I had to be induced with both pregnancies, and the LOOOONGGG wait (they were both past my due date) was hard. I imagine it is worse considering you are used to going earlier! Stay strong, and your neighbors are lucky to have neighbors like you who will reach out to them.

Buddy was very small too, and I lost 10 pounds during my pregnancy with him. I don't believe he was in any hurry to come out, but I had to be induced with him 2 weeks early due to complications. As excited as I was that he was coming 2 weeks early, I now really wish he could have finished out his stay in-utero.

Very moving post. So glad you all are ok and hope your neighbors will be too. Please let us know if there's something we (your blogging community) can do to help them through this difficult time. Praying for you & the little nugget. (and of course the rest of the family too!)

About Me

Hi! I'm Stefanie! I'm a wife and mom of 4 living in Pittsburgh. Parenting and lifestyle blogger, Organizer, DIYer, and Mamarazzi. Champion multi-tasker. I love taking pictures, decorating, reading and creating fun activities and meals for my kids. Oh, and my youngest just happens to rock an extra chromosome! We're just a typical family on a mission to show the world that Down syndrome is nothing to fear! Proud member of the Netflix #StreamTeam and monthly contributor to the Pittsburgh Moms Blog. My greatest skill, however, is wrangling the chaos! Follow along on our daily adventures!